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I need to set up shared folder.

I've got Mac OSX Yosemite host and clean Win7 x64 on the VirtualBox.

In MacOSX, i go to the VirtualBox -> win7 settings -> "Shared Folders" -> Add shared folder -> creating folder /Users/my_name/Documents/win7 -> Make it permanent -> Click ok.

What i should do in Windows then?

Thank you.

ServerSideCat
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7 Answers7

165

Edit

4+ years later after the original reply in 2015, virtualbox.org now offers an official user manual in both html and pdf formats, which effectively deprecates the previous version of this answer:

  • Step 3 (Guest Additions) mentioned in this response as well as several others, is discussed in great detail in manual sections 4.1 and 4.2
  • Step 1 (Shared Folders Setting in VirtualBox Manager) is discussed in section 4.3

Original Answer

Because there isn't an official answer yet and I literally just did this for my OS X/WinXP install, here's what I did:

  1. VirtualBox Manager: Open the Shared Folders setting and click the '+' icon to add a new folder. Then, populate the Folder Path (or use the drop-down to navigate) with the folder you want shared and make sure "Auto-Mount" and "Make Permanent" are checked.
  2. Boot Windows
  3. Once Windows is running, goto the Devices menu (at the top of the VirtualBox Manager window) and select "Insert Guest Additions CD Image...". Cycle through the prompts and once you finish installing, let it reboot.
  4. After Windows reboots, your new drive should show up as a Network Drive in Windows Explorer.
starball
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xinampc
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    When you Install the Guest additions on Win 7, it may not start. The default security settings prevents it. A shield icon appears in the bottom bar, and you need to click it to allow the installation. – Mic Jan 09 '16 at 09:35
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    Hi - Where is this Devices menu in step 3? Is this on your host Mac machine's VBox manager window? which version of vbox are you referring to please? thanks – WillZ May 22 '16 at 12:05
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    @WillZhang You should find Devices in your virtual machine's menu bar. So, while your guest OS is running, your VM's menu bar should look something like this: "VirtualBox VM | View | Input | Devices | Window | Help". – xinampc May 24 '16 at 20:43
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    i am not prompted after selecting 'insert guest additions cd images' – I Like Mar 04 '17 at 00:21
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    After “inserting” the `Guest Additions CD Image`, you may have to click on the Network Drive in Windows Explorer before Windows prompts you to install the `Guest Additions`. – Anthony C Nov 14 '17 at 21:58
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    I'm on VirtualBox 5.2.8 (MacOS 10.13.4 host, Win10x64 guest) and Step 2 (Devices > "Insert Guest Additions CD Image...") didn't suffice for me. After downloading the iso from this page http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.2.8/ and pointing to it from vbox manager settings, I also had to do "Devices > Optical Drives > Remove disk from virtual drive" and re-select it. – cweekly Apr 04 '18 at 21:53
  • Thank you soooo much! This worked for me as well. Big relief. – Erik van der Neut Sep 19 '18 at 08:53
  • I cant find the "devices Menu" in step 3 either. Where is the "virtual machines menu bar". Which menu bar is this? There is a bunch of icons at the bottom left of the windows window, with incos for "storage", "shared drives" etc. No devices though. – John Little Jan 09 '20 at 13:31
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You should map your virtual network drive in Windows.

  1. Open command prompt in Windows (VirtualBox)
  2. Execute: net use x: \\vboxsvr\<your_shared_folder_name>
  3. You should see new drive X: in My Computer

In your case execute net use x: \\vboxsvr\win7

lu_ko
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7

Using a Windows 10 guest, after I performed steps 1 through 3 from @xinampc's answer, I had to open a new File Explorer and navigated to This PC > CD Drive (D:) VirtualBox Guest Additions to run VBoxWindowsAdditions. After I ran that and went through the command prompts, Windows rebooted and I was able to see VBOXSVR under Network.

Alexander Turinske
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Yesterday, I am able to share the folders from my host OS Macbook (high Sierra) to Guest OS Windows 10

Original Answer

Because there isn't an official answer yet and I literally just did this for my OS X/WinXP install, here's what I did:

  1. VirtualBox Manager: Open the Shared Folders setting and click the '+' icon to add a new folder. Then, populate the Folder Path (or use the drop-down to navigate) with the folder you want shared and make sure "Auto-Mount" and "Make Permanent" are checked.
  2. Boot Windows
  3. Download the VBoxGuestAdditions_4.0.12.iso from http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.0.12/
  4. Go to Devices > Optical drives > choose disk image.. choose the one downloaded in step 3
  5. Inside host guest OS (Windows 10, in my case) I could see: This PC > CD Drive (D:) Virtual Guest Additions

For now, right click on it, select Properties, the Compatibility tab, and select Windows 8 compatibility there. Much easier than using the compatibility troubleshooting I did initially.

enter image description here

  1. reboot the guest OS (Windows 10)
  2. Inside host guest OS, you could see the shared folder This PC> shared folder

It worked for me so I thought of sharing with everyone too.

peterDriscoll
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I had the exact same issue, after rightly have configured in Mac OSX host a SharedFolder with Auto-Mount enabled. On the Guest OS, it is also required to install VirtualBox Guest Additions. For the case of Windows, it is:

VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe

Right after this installation, i could perfectly view the shared folder content under This PC and Network ("\VBOXSVR\Installers").

KPandian
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At first I was stuck trying to figure out out to "insert" the Guest Additions CD image in Windows because I presumed it was a separate download that I would have to mount or somehow attach to the virtual CD drive. But just going through the Mac VirtualBox Devices menu and picking "Insert Guest Additions CD Image..." seemed to do the trick. Nothing to mount, nothing to "insert".

Elsewhere I found that the Guest Additions update was part of the update package, so I guess the new VB found the new GA CD automatically when Windows went looking. I wish I had known that to start.

Also, it appears that when I installed the Guest Additions on my Linked Base machine, it propagated to the other machines that were based on it. Sweet. Only one installation for multiple "machines".

I still haven't found that documented, but it appears to be the case (probably I'm not looking for the right explanation terms because I don't already know the explanation). How that works should probably be a different thread.

August
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0

A Shared Folder requires Guest Additions but to get Guest Additions to work I had to use the following steps.

  • Enable Shared Folder
    • Add permanent shared folder
      • Settings > Shared Folder > New Folder
      • Select host OS folder
      • Give it a name without spaces
      • Check auto mount and make permanent, if available
      • Leave mount point blank
      • ( Shared folder will be in This PC > Network Locations , after the guest additions have been added and the VM restarted.)
  • Add guest additions
    • Add optical drive
      • VirtualBox > Settings > Storage
        • On the IDE controller click the "Add new storage attachment" > Optical > Leave Empty
        • (Do not select the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso image as the installers won't run as expected within the VM.)
    • Start the Machine
      • In the Devices Menu in the MacOS bar, select Insert Guest Additions CD Image...
      • Follow prompts for install
    • Restart machine
Ohhh
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